Rooster incompetent? Bullying?

[The Rinaest Rina]

Hey y'all. This is not my favorite topic but here we go. I've talked about this guy before, haha.

This fella here? He's the cornerstone to the castle in my clouds- a homozygous for blue egg guy. I am rather fond of him.
Trouble is, he's a doofus, and I mean that affectionately, but it appears to be true. Just this morning I watched him at feeding time interact with the hens- who have been with him since Christmas- and instead of breeding them he just runs up and pecks them on the neck. One by one they left the coop and went outside to eat mud instead. Then Doofus here was all by himself before he wandered out to join them. This explains why I often find uneaten feed now where I didn't before.
The worst part is that one of my hens is terrified of him. She hates being around him and I had to shut the chickens up yesterday to keep her from standing outside in the rain by herself. He also is chasing my bantams away from the food, though the "chasing" looks a lot like his neck pecking so he could just be trying to mate them. Yes, I have multiple feeding locations.
I've only seen one successful-looking breed from him in his time here. Maybe he hasn't got all of the hormones he needs? Maybe it's the weather?
I did crack open one of the eggs I wanted to hatch, and the bullseye is there. A different rooster was in the run for like thirty seconds about a week ago, so who knows. I guess the best way to tell is to run a test hatch and see if any chicks match his marks, or if there are any chicks.
The people I got him from said he was pretty slow to mature- he was just starting to crow when I got him, allegedly because he had a dominant older brother. He's probably nine or ten months old now.
Is he mean or just fumbling?
Should I separate my scared hen for a bit and try to reintroduce her, similar to what I would do if it was hen bullying?
I mostly wanted an unrelated rooster for my flock, and one that would bring advantageous genes and good personality in while he was at it. This guy is very nice on all points except that he seems like he doesn't know what he's doing and he's scaring the hens in the process.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'm going to guess he's just immature. You said he's only been with them since Christmas? He may be more focused on getting himself established in the pecking order (especially with the neck pecks). Hopefully he grows out of this, becomes more comfortable with the flock, and starts doing his job.

Of course his photo just oozes confidence, so I'm sure he thinks he's doing a great job!

 

[Mrs. K]

What part of the world are you in? In the dark days and long nights of winter, the hormones are typically lower. In a month, the 'sap will start to rise'. If he is not showing much better characteristics and traits by then, I would cull then and try again.

Mrs K

 

[fluffycrow]

It does sounds like he’s trying to establish himself.
Making the hens favour him and trying to breed them, while also trying to keep the bantams away from his ‘group’ do sound like actions a young cockerel takes to secure himself the top position and the good graces of the group.
Problems is, both behaviours can look quite, similar, especially when the cockerel is young and does not have much experience. Cockerels that try to mate but have not yet understood what that entails do focus on neck grabbing more than they should. Almost all my serama cockerels went through this phase; It is particularly hard to learn how to do it right when the flock consists of experienced hens, who don’t bother tolerating inadequacy (as they should).

I’m not sure if your cockerel is in fact trying to scare off the bantams, or mate them as a last resort. In these instances a video would probably be very helpful.

Right now what you should be looking out for the most is how the hens are reacting. Doesn’t look great so far. How old are they?

I’m assuming that it is winter where you are. Much like Mrs. K said, I think that this time of year gives you (or rather, him) a great opportunity to hone in his skills before all the hormones hit come springtime.
Him being slow to mature checks out with all the rest of the behaviours he’s exhibiting. I’d expect him to get better soon. Still, your biggest indication is how the hens react to him. At the end of the day, they are the ones that do the choosing.

I wouldn’t expect the eggs to be fertilised. Sometimes bullseyes can appear in eggs that have not been fertilised at all.
You also mentioned that a different rooster entered the pen. Are the two males able to see eachother? Are their coops side by side? That other male might be causing some stress for the young guy, leading to his ‘lashing out’. That would certainly be the case if the hens had a backstory with the other guy

 

[The Rinaest Rina]

I'm going to guess he's just immature. You said he's only been with them since Christmas? He may be more focused on getting himself established in the pecking order (especially with the neck pecks). Hopefully he grows out of this, becomes more comfortable with the flock, and starts doing his job.

Of course his photo just oozes confidence, so I'm sure he thinks he's doing a great job!

That could be haha!

 

[The Rinaest Rina]

What part of the world are you in? In the dark days and long nights of winter, the hormones are typically lower. In a month, the 'sap will start to rise'. If he is not showing much better characteristics and traits by then, I would cull then and try again.

Mrs K

Northern Washington State, it's not especially cold here but it's very wet and dark. Thanks for the advice.

 

[The Rinaest Rina]

It does sounds like he’s trying to establish himself.
Making the hens favour him and trying to breed them, while also trying to keep the bantams away from his ‘group’ do sound like actions a young cockerel takes to secure himself the top position and the good graces of the group.
Problems is, both behaviours can look quite, similar, especially when the cockerel is young and does not have much experience. Cockerels that try to mate but have not yet understood what that entails do focus on neck grabbing more than they should. Almost all my serama cockerels went through this phase; It is particularly hard to learn how to do it right when the flock consists of experienced hens, who don’t bother tolerating inadequacy (as they should).

I’m not sure if your cockerel is in fact trying to scare off the bantams, or mate them as a last resort. In these instances a video would probably be very helpful.

Right now what you should be looking out for the most is how the hens are reacting. Doesn’t look great so far. How old are they?

I’m assuming that it is winter where you are. Much like Mrs. K said, I think that this time of year gives you (or rather, him) a great opportunity to hone in his skills before all the hormones hit come springtime.
Him being slow to mature checks out with all the rest of the behaviours he’s exhibiting. I’d expect him to get better soon. Still, your biggest indication is how the hens react to him. At the end of the day, they are the ones that do the choosing.

I wouldn’t expect the eggs to be fertilised. Sometimes bullseyes can appear in eggs that have not been fertilised at all.
You also mentioned that a different rooster entered the pen. Are the two males able to see eachother? Are their coops side by side? That other male might be causing some stress for the young guy, leading to his ‘lashing out’. That would certainly be the case if the hens had a backstory with the other guy

The hens are nine months now, and two are about twelve or fourteen months old. This rooster was hatched last July or early August and he's looking fuller and longer feathered now than the picture shows.
The hens have quite a bit more life experience than this guy, allegedly his brother wouldn't even let him crow but he figured that out within three days of his move here.
The old roosters are out of sight, but they can definitely be heard. I've tried to free-range them briefly, but of course they just want to pace in front of the run and try getting back inside! Not doing that anymore.

I might try to get a video later. He kind of lunges at the bantams rather than dancing or shuffling, particularly at the smallest banty who's less than seven inches long.